


Lights Out

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Merlin Modern AU, Porn, Rating: NC17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-08
Updated: 2011-08-08
Packaged: 2017-10-22 09:43:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin tells Arthur he's afraid of the dark, and Arthur takes his mind off it...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights Out

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Dark!Merthur prompt at the [Merthur Party](http://merthurparty.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. I clearly took this prompt in a way I wasn't supposed to, but it resulted in porn so who's complaining?  
> This was written at about 1am, but it's been edited since then so it should be fine. Unbeta'd.

“I’m serious, Arthur, I can’t see  _anything_.”

“Neither can I, Merlin, that’s kind of the point of  _lights out_.”

“Well, it’s stupid, what if-- Ow!”

“What?”

“I kicked something.”

There was a muffled bang as Merlin kicked whatever it was again, this time intent on inflicting pain rather than suffering from it. Arthur was pretty sure he heard Merlin grumbling under his breath about  _stupid bed who put you in the middle of the room_  before the mattress creaked under his (admittedly rather pitiful) weight.

A few moments of silence passed, or a few moments of bliss, as Arthur had come to know it, before Merlin’s voice was assaulting his ears once again.

“Arthur.”

It wasn’t even a question, he was just stating Arthur’s name as if he knew he’d get an answer.

“Merlin,” Arthur replied flatly, making a point of not opening his eyes, even though he knew Merlin couldn’t tell.

“Were you ever afraid of the dark?”

Arthur laughed at that. He thought Merlin was joking, because Merlin did that a lot-- joked. A few loud, obnoxious barks escaped Arthur before he realised Merlin wasn’t laughing too. Usually, when he’d said something intentionally funny, Merlin let out a nervous chuckle, but this time, he was silent.

Suddenly, it wasn’t so funny anymore. Arthur swallowed the laughter that’d quickly gone stale in his chest. He stared straight up into the darkness for several seconds, before clearing his throat awkwardly.

“No,” he grunted. “Were you?”

Merlin didn’t say anything, but through the quiet Arthur heard the sound of Merlin’s head rubbing against the pillow, and he knew he was nodding. It made Arthur gulp, the guilt he felt for laughing only mounting as the touch of Merlin’s fingers tickled along his hand beneath the covers.

“You know,” Arthur mumbled, taking a firm grasp of Merlin’s timid fingers. “Based on previous experience, I’d say you were quite the night-owl.”

That drew a breathless giggle from Merlin, which Arthur silently congratulated himself on. When Merlin was happy, he was uncontrollably, infuriatingly, sickeningly happy, but when he was nervous or miserable, nothing could get through to him-- nothing but Arthur.

“The problem wasn’t so much  _night_  as it was just... darkness. I hated not knowing what was beside me,” Merlin still sounded breathless. His voice was catching slightly, like it did whenever they watched a horror film and he asked Arthur to go and make him a cup of tea right before the terrifying (for Merlin) climax scene.

“You know who’s beside you now,” Arthur whispered, squeezing Merlin’s hand again.

The small sigh this produced told him that he’d made Merlin smile. There was a comfortable, tingling feeling in Arthur’s stomach-- he loved being able to make someone feel protected like that, even though Merlin was with a head-strong, independent  _guy_  rather than one of those dainty damsels-in-distress Lance always chased after.

They lay in silence for another few minutes. Arthur closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he felt sleep tugging at the edge of his senses, but he didn’t let go of Merlin’s hand. He entwined their fingers and rubbed the pad of his thumb across the back of Merlin’s hand with all the tenderness he could manage.

“Arthur?” Merlin whispered into the darkness, and this time, it  _was_  a question.

“Merlin,” Arthur said again, his irritable tone muffled by sleepy warmth and love.

“I still don’t like the dark all that much.”

Arthur rolled onto his side, brushed his nose against Merlin’s cheek and breathed “I know,” hot into his ear.

Merlin pulled back slightly, turning towards Arthur until their noses touched. Arthur’s eyes were adjusting to the light, and he could just about make out the glint of Merlin’s eyes in the dimness of the room. Gently, Arthur pressed forward until his lips touched against Merlin’s.

He watched the dark glimmer of Merlin’s eyes slide closed as they kissed. With the smallest of moans, Arthur disentangled his fingers from Merlin’s, and brought them up to tickle along his thigh.

“Darkness can be good, too,” Arthur muttered.

“It means...” he peppered light kisses along Merlin’s cheekbones.

“That I...” Arthur nuzzled against Merlin as he dragged his lips higher, towards the soft, pale skin of Merlin’s eyelids. 

“Can take you by surprise.” With that, Arthur moved his hand from where it’d been slowly caressing Merlin’s thigh through the thin fabric of his boxer shorts, and cupped him.

Merlin gasped against Arthur’s cheek and moaned in this delicious way that told Arthur he’d been expecting the touch and not expecting it all at once. He kissed Arthur’s face, groaning quietly and angling his way towards Arthur’s lips.

Arthur smiled against the soft wetness of Merlin’s mouth. He squeezed Merlin through his boxers, just to hear another guttural moan and feel him bite down on Arthur’s lip rather than his own. They kissed messily for several minutes, Arthur tracing the back of Merlin’s teeth with his tongue while Merlin dug his fingers into Arthur’s shoulders and pushed himself into Arthur’s cupped hand.

With a sharp hitch of breath, Merlin slid his hands from Arthur’s shoulders, ran them down his back and slipped them under the elastic of his underwear. Arthur bucked forwards into Merlin, moaning quietly and pushing his tongue into Merlin’s mouth with extra force.

It was still pitch black in their room, and what little Arthur’s eyes had been able to discern was blurred and fuzzied by arousal. Arthur felt himself shifting up the bed slightly as Merlin tucked his hands firmly around his arse. Then, Merlin gave a quick squeeze, and suddenly it was Arthur’s turn to gasp and bite his lip. His eyes rolled back a little and his chest heaved forward into Merlin’s appreciative hum.

Continuing to palm Merlin in this position was difficult. Their bodies were pressed tightly together and Arthur’s arm was twisted awkwardly between them, but he refused to give in. He could tell Merlin wanted to push him onto his back and  _indulge_  him in every way he could, but this time, Arthur wanted it to be all about Merlin.

Arthur’s eyelids fluttered ever so slightly as long fingers tickled close to his hole, but then he sucked in a deep breath and pushed Merlin away. The disappointed noise that echoed up from Merlin’s throat was quickly lost in a deep groan as Arthur shoved his hand down the front of Merlin’s boxers. Much to Arthur’s delight, Merlin’s mouth fell slack and open against his own, and bony hips pressed into him under the warm weight of the duvet.

A tickle of coarse hair met Arthur’s fingers as he reached for Merlin’s cock, which was already hard and leaking in his boxers. Another loud, almost fierce moan tore from Merlin’s throat as Arthur wrapped his fingers around him and began to tug slowly back and forth.

By this point, Merlin was too far gone to make anything but a hopeless, sloppy attempt at a kiss, but Arthur was still managing to keep his head-- just. He sucked on Merlin’s lower lip, relishing the feel of soft flesh between his teeth. Then he kissed his way along Merlin’s jaw until he reached his ear.

It smelt like shampoo and Merlin. Arthur hummed softly in response to Merlin’s moans, which were growing wilder as the pace of Arthur’s hand quickened. When Arthur licked at the earlobe rubbing against his nose, Merlin let out a cry and Arthur felt hot heat coat his fingers. Merlin’s body shuddered against him and his head fell back, exposing his throat.

Arthur leaned forward, kissing Merlin’s neck, all the while stroking him through his orgasm. The sticky wetness of Merlin’s come was seeping through his boxers and onto Arthur’s, but he didn’t care. Arthur just wanted to keep kissing Merlin and touching him until he came too, just from the warm closeness of it.

After several seconds, Merlin’s breathing calmed and his head came down to press against Arthur’s.

“Maybe we should sleep in the dark more often,” Merlin panted, a smirk curling his words into something cheeky and sarcastic.

Arthur just grinned and kissed him, because it really was ridiculously  _Merlin_  how a childhood fear could be cured by a quick hand job and some sloppy kisses.


End file.
